The decision had practically been made since Thursday. But plan A was to convince José Luis Ábalos to voluntarily make the decision to leave the seat to assume political responsibility for the so-called scandal. Koldo case, in which it is investigated whether one of its main collaborators took hundreds of thousands of euros in illegal commissions in a contract to buy masks in the middle of the pandemic. The first message arrived on Friday, with the vice president of the Government and vice general secretary of the PSOE, María Jesús Montero. Ábalos held on. Then the level was raised: it was directly Pedro Sánchez, on Saturday, who opened the exit door for him, even without mentioning him. Nothing. So the leader of the PSOE and his direct team took action with a plan B.
On Sunday, Cerdán tried by phone and in person. Ábalos, as he has been responsible for highlighting these days in recent interviews, has no property other than an apartment that he bought in Valencia in 1987. In Madrid, to cover his duties as a deputy, he says he lives for rent in Rivas Vaciamadrid, a town south of the capital known for being one of the references of the Madrid left, since Izquierda Unida has governed there uninterruptedly since 1991 and before that the PSOE. Cerdán went there to try to convince him.
Until that moment, I had not expressly asked for the minutes. But Sunday was different. The crisis had to be resolved now, the Executive was called for Monday, and on Wednesday there was a very relevant parliamentary session, with a control in which Alberto Núñez Feijóo is going to ask Sánchez about the Koldo case —there are five other questions and an interpellation to several ministers on the matter— and Ábalos had to chair a meeting of the Interior commission, from which he resigned this Monday. There was no more time. Sánchez was waiting for a response now.
Ábalos explained to Cerdán that he believes that he does not have to leave the record because he is not involved in anything. His name does not appear in the entire summary of the case opened in the National Court. Furthermore, he is convinced that once he leaves the scene, the opposition will continue to rise, as it is already doing, until it puts pressure on leaders such as Salvador Illa, Francina Armengol, Ángel Víctor Torres, because they contracted with the company under investigation, or himself. Cerdán, who was the one who recommended Koldo García as Ábalos’ driver, and in the end directly to Sánchez. The organization secretary agreed with him that he is not involved in anything, but insisted that he had to leave the record because of the political responsibility of introducing Koldo García into the ministry; hire him and his wife; and giving him increasing power that he allegedly used fraudulently to take illegal commissions.
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Cerdán guaranteed him that the party would help him if he left the minutes, but insisted that if he did not voluntarily deliver it on Sunday, the Executive would demand it directly and bluntly on Monday. This is important, because disobeying an express order from the Executive, for a militant, can mean a very serious offense that ends with expulsion and in any case will imply leaving the Socialist Group towards the Mixed Group. Ábalos, who has spent his entire life in the PSOE after a youth militancy in the PCE, knows it. The former minister, as he has done in interviews, did not outright reject the idea of leaving the minutes, he said that he would think about it. But the long hours were very evident and the hours were running out. After the in-person meeting there were a few more calls, but Ábalos did not change his mind.
On Monday, with everything ready, and just before the Executive meeting began. Cerdán made one last attempt and called Ábalos to notify him of the decision that the PSOE governing body was preparing to make. They were going to require him to deliver the minutes within 24 hours due to political responsibility. Ábalos burst out:
—You are wrong, this is unfair.
The former minister insists to his colleagues that there is no history of anything similar in the history of the PSOE. He is disappointed not only with Koldo García, who betrayed his trust by corrupting himself and who has ended up sinking a political career already very affected after his departure from the Government, but also with those who were his companions in the hard core of the PSOE, who believes that They have not protected him from opposition attacks. Sánchez and his followers, on the contrary, believe that the situation in Ábalos is unsustainable and are also convinced that the PSOE must behave differently from other parties.
That 2018 motion of censure, which Ábalos negotiated and in which he served as spokesperson, was motivated by a corruption scandal, the Gürtel case. Sánchez came to power against corruption, he needs to show that he cuts to the chase, although there is no criminal implication, but there is political responsibility. The president and his team, with the investigation commission, will also try to demonstrate the difference between the actions of the socialists and some PP administrations where there have been scandals with masks, such as the Madrid City Council and the Community of Madrid, where no one has assumed no political responsibility.
Sánchez has not spoken with Ábalos at any time, according to the president’s entourage. But obviously all of Cerdán’s movements are piloted by the leader, and the former minister knows it. Given Ábalos’ resistance throughout the weekend, the socialists assumed the possibility that he would maintain that attitude after the Executive demanded that he hand over the seat. But they still hoped the pressure would work. Hours passed and Ábalos made a gesture: he resigned from the presidency of the Interior commission, but not from the minutes. And there, the idea was already established in the leadership of the PSOE that the former minister would take his party to the limit and would not renounce the act. When the registry closed at 6:00 p.m., with no news of Ábalos’s resignation from the record, the worst fears were consolidated. Until the 24 hours are up, at noon on Tuesday, there is time, but the management’s hopes are running out. Ábalos’s entourage insists that the decision has not been made and he still has time to reflect, but a turnaround seems increasingly difficult. If nothing changes, the path will be inexorable towards a break with his party and expulsion to the Mixed Group.
Not even those who appreciate him most understand such a reaction, because Ábalos is a party man to whom the management offered help and protection as long as he agreed to leave the record. The former minister, 64 years old, is close to retirement, and by maintaining his seat he maintains his salary and contribution, but also the capacity in case there is any attempt to accuse him in the case, although at the moment no element has appeared that would make think about that possibility.
The socialist leadership is baffled by this ending, which only extends the wear and tear of the first relevant corruption scandal that affects the Sánchez Government. Furthermore, the Executive does not have any seats to spare and now, if it is confirmed that Ábalos is going to the Mixed Party, he will have to seek the support of a man expelled from his party and, therefore, unpredictable reactions. Everything that could go wrong in this matter has gone even worse, in the absence of a final resolution.
Sánchez is already preparing to tell Feijóo on Wednesday that while the PP expelled Pablo Casado for denouncing corruption and asking Isabel Díaz Ayuso for political responsibilities for a mask case, the PSOE assumes that responsibility at the highest level and asks the seat to its former secretary of organization although it does not appear in any summary. The management will thus try to regain the initiative and minimize damage. But the hole is made, and if the story ends with Ábalos in the Mixed, its dimensions will increase even more.
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